Toyota Eyes Hybrid Home

Already Successful at Selling Hybrid-electric vehicles, the concept of a “hybrid home” is intriguing to Toyota Motor Corp., an official says.

The auto maker's vision calls for renewable energy to proliferate, says Justin Ward, advanced powertrain program manager-Toyota Technical Center. “But now you have to have a way to store that energy. So when you start thinking about it, a hybrid home sounds really interesting.”

Ward says there “could be an application” to use Toyota batteries to store electricity that consumers generate at home via solar- or wind-energy sources. But first Toyota must understand how energy is consumed in various regions.

In Japanese homes, average consumption is about 1 kW, but in the U.S. “our computers aren't even 1 kW,” Ward says. “When you look at a U.S. house it's (more) like 7 kW.”